Burglars used Facebook statuses to target homes

Mark Raby, 12th September 2010

Police have arrested three men for burglarizing more than 18 homes in the Northeast, but the case ends up making the victims look more stupid than anything else.

Mario Rojas, Leonardo Barroso, and Victor Rodriguez reportedly stole as much as $200,000 in personal property from residents in an around Nashua, New Hampshire.

It took officials a while to put all the cases together because, even though the burglars were able to attack each house when no one was home, there was nothing that connected them to one another. Or so it seemed.

It turns out every single victim posted a Facebook status announcing they were going away on vacation or business and wouldn't be home for days, right before they were robbed. And each of these victims had their Facebook accounts set for public display. So it was pretty much like taking candy from a baby.

"Be careful of what you post on these social networking sites," said Nashua police captain Ron Dickerson in an interview with local news station WMUR.

Police were only able to find the culprits after one of the items they stole happened to be a specific kind of firework. When they later heard fireworks go off, they tracked the sound and found the three men.

If you needed another reason to be careful about what you post on Facebook or Twitter, this is a great example.